Celebrity Chatter, DVDs

Rob Paulsen continues to give voice to a most animated career

Robert Fredrick Paulsen III has always given voice to his career. He first started out as a singer, did stage work and made a handful of films and TV shows. “I just wanted to perform,” he says, “and I didn’t care what that meant.” And perform he did and does, once he stumbled into the profession that truly had him give voice to his work. (He began his voice-over career in 1983 with “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero”, where he played “Snow Job” and “Tripwire”.)

Today, the 60-year-old actor is one of the most prolific voice actors in the industry. Paulsen has recorded thousands of different character voices for nearly 500 different films and TV series, not counting his endless work in commercial voice-overs and video games. Perhaps he’s most known for the original commercial of “Got Milk?” campaign. The famous commercial (remember “who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?”) aired in 1993, and launched the Got Milk? (in)famous campaign.

His career runs as a long as that yellow brick road: Career highlights include “Animaniacs”, “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius”, “Pinky and the Brain”, “The Tick”, “Tiny Toon Adventures”, “Goof Troop”, “Dexter’s Laboratory”, “Histeria” and “The Mask”. In “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” Paulsen voiced both Raphael in the original 1987 animated cast; he gives life to Donatello in the more recent take on the series. And let us not forget a role he holds close to his heart: Oz’s Tin Man (and his alter ego Hickory), a role he has voiced first in “Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz” and in the newly released “Tom and Jerry Back to Oz.” Both are available on DVD, thanks to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Chatting with the actor is an animated adventure. He has so many stories to tell about places he has gone and people he has met. We gabbed with him on a Saturday afternoon, in time away from his wife, Parrish, and their Yorkshire terriers, Pooshie and Tala. We even got to hear him sing a snatch of “If I Only Had a Heart”!

Alan W. Petrucelli: First things first: You wanted to be a hockey player. What happened?
Rob Paulsen: The one big fly in the ointment was that I hadn’t the talent or temperament. I was a decent high school player and maybe so in college, but professional hockey players are bigger and more mannish.

AWP: One of your heroes was Gordie Howe. Did you ever met him?
RP: Gordie was my idol. He passed away just a week ago. He was my hero. His planet on ice made him an idol of mine. When I met him and his wife, Colleen, it turned out that their grandkids were great Ninja Turtle fans. I was lucky to have Gordie in my life: At a fundraiser in Vancouver, I was sitting next to him during an autograph signing. Gordie was in early ’60s and had been signing for a couple hours. A guy my age came up to Gordie after waiting an hour for him to sign a puck, and said, ‘Mr. Howe, thank you for signing my puck.’ Your hand must be getting tired.’ Gordie looked at him, and sober as judge, he held his hand out to the man and said, ‘I worked too hard for this privilege. It’s my honor.’ What he said was like a laser beam right to my head. Gordie was a God.

AWP: You worked closely with another God, Steven Spielberg. Any stories?
RP: He has not only created the world’s greatest impression of cartoons and movies, but up close and personal, Spielberg is the most delightful and kind and generous person I have met. He makes any conversation or experienced with him about you. That is important since I have met people whose goal is to be self-centered. I have zero tolerance to run into those types of people. They think they will impress me, but they never do. Spielberg is the kind of famous person who impresses people . . . without an ego.

AWP: You are another famous person who impresses people.
RP: No. I am not a celebrity. A lot of the characters I voice are celebrities. but I am not a celebrity. I don’t draw or write them. I have developed a certain reputation: Casting people know to call Rob if they give me a live action job because I have developed a reputation that I can sing it, I can act it. [Pauses, then laughs] Yet I am limited by how I look, so doing voices is freeing because I can swing from the fences since I’m a 5-foot, 10½-inch white guy, as average-looking as a million other guys.

AWP: You must admit you got a great job. It must get tough changing your voice so many times.
RP: No. A job is what blue-collar men do. Pouring hot tar in July is a tough job. Laying sod on a farm is a tough job. Working on a conveyor belt in a factory is hard work. My job is like freedom . . . I get to do what I want with my voice; my interpretation is only limited by my voice. I would be lying if I said I don’t like when people make a fuss over me. Sometimes when I sign a credit card receipt, a person says, “Hmm, Rob Paulsen. Are you . . .?’ Sometimes a person will listen to me and say, ‘Hmm, I know that voice.’ That’s incredibly flattering. When I was growing up, cartoons were on only three networks. And now . . . [Pauses] I am in incredible receipt of so much fan anticipation. All things considered, I love what I do so much I would do it for free.

AWP: When you made the two Oz films with Tom and Jerry, where you asked to sound like Jack Haley?
RP: The people who made the movie wanted me to be really close to what he sounded like. That’s what they were definitely looking for. Haley was very light and sweet and ingenious, yet he still had a pretty thick Boston accent. When I got to sing, it’s such a thrill they wanted the Haley influence. [Begins singing in a Haley soundalike voice] “When a man’s an empty kettle he should be on his mettle . . .”

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Paulsen supplies the Tinman’s voice in two Warner Bros. DVDs

AWP: Is your voice insured?
RP: No. I heard and presume that Luciano Pavarotti and Richard Tucker and Kathleen Battle had their voices insured. I did think about it now that I am getting older and had an issue with laryngitis,

AWP: You’ve done commercials for Honda, Frosted Mini-Wheats, McDonalds and Taco Bell. Do you have lifetime free cars, cereal, Big Macs and Cheesy Double Beef Burritos?
RP: [Laughs] No. They offered me a crazy deal on a Honda but I ended up buying one in 1974. The Honda Civic cost $4,496. When McDonald’s was doing a promotion with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a local guy was a big man and asked me to sign some Turtleblila. He gave me some free stuff . . . I think it was two burgers.

Celebrity Chatter

Broadway stars unite in song to benefit the victims and their families of Orlando tragedy

My friend Liz Callaway sent me this email. I wept when I read it, wept more when I watched the video. Trust me (as you always do) on this . . .

Dear Alan:
After the horrific violence in Orlando earlier this month, the Broadway community got together and recorded a single of the beautiful Bacharach/David song “What the World We Needs Now is Love” to benefit the victims and their families. I am very proud to be a part of this recording along with Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda, Idina Menzel, Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sarah Bareilles, Carole King, Billy Porter, my sister Ann Hampton Callaway and so many more.

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Here is the video Playbill.com made of our song:
http://www.playbill.com/video/broadway-for-orlando-the-exclusive-music-video

If you’d like to contribute, you can purchase the song on iTunes, gift it to your friends, or order hard copies and/or MP3s at www.broadwayrecords.com.  100% all of the proceeds will benefit the LGBT Community Center of Central Florida.

My heartfelt thanks for spreading the word!

xoxo Liz

DVDs

TV’s sassiest and most trustworthy female newscasters? No, not Kim Barker!

TV’s greatest newscaster? In honor of the home entertainment debut of the smart and satirical comedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot starring Tina Fey as a broadcast journalist, the National Research Group (a Stagwell Company) conducted an online survey on behalf of Paramount Pictures among a nationally representative sample of U.S. residents to elicit opinions about female journalists who appear on broadcast and cable news programs.
Yes, sometimes long sentences need to be long.

Respondents, all of whom watch national broadcast or cable news at least once per week, chose Diane Sawyer as their favorite on-air reporter (yes!), followed closely by Barbara Walters, Katie Couric and Robin Roberts.  All four were selected as top favorites regardless of respondents’ political party affiliation; however Republicans also chose Megyn Kelly as a favorite and Democrats added Lisa Ling.  All respondents considered Sawyer, Walters, Couric and Roberts the most trustworthy.

Respondents’ top picks for “great interviewer” were Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters.  Those surveyed also described Walters, Sawyer, Lisa Ling, Rachel Maddow and Christiane Amanpour as “intelligent.”

The “classiest” broadcast journalists were Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Barbara Walters, while the “sassiest” was Megyn Kelly and the most “down to earth” was Robin Roberts.

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Most often described as “brave” were Robin Roberts, Lisa Ling, Christiane Amanpour and Lara Logan.  Respondents most often cited Megyn Kelly, Greta Van Susteren and Rachel Maddow as “opinionated.”

Based on real-life reporter Kim Barker’s revealing and funny memoir about covering the war beat in the Middle East, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is a sharp and savvy take on combat journalists as well as an illuminating story of self-discovery. The film follows Kim (Tina Fey) as she decides to shake things up by taking a dangerous assignment in Afghanistan.


There, in the midst of chaos, Kim discovers her true strength as she risks it all to find the next big story.  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot has arrived on Digital HD and on Blu-ray Combo Pack. No, none of TV’s “winners”  make an appearance.

 

CDs

Masterworks Broadway raises the curtain on a trio of summer sizzlers

The curtain continues to go up as Masterworks Broadway announces its Summer 2016 releases, including three classic albums from the archives: Sid and Marty Krofft’s Les Poupees de Paris – 1964 World Fair Recording, I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road: Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording and Alice Through the Looking Glass–1966 Television Soundtrack Recording. Upon release, each title will be accompanied by new album pages and photos on MasterworksBroadway.com.

 
Sid and Marty Krofft’s Les Poupees de Paris is the Grammy-nominated soundtrack from an elaborate puppet show performed on tour and at the 1964 World’s Fair. With the voices of Pearl Bailey, Milton Berle, Cyd Charisse, Annie Fargé, Gene Kelly, Liberace, Jayne Mansfield, Tony Martin, Phil Silvers, Loretta Young and Edie Adams, the score features music and lyrics by Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen. Known for bringing a psychedelic sensibility to children’s TV with shows like The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost, the Krofft’s got their start with similar puppet shows performed in nightclubs. Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen, the multi award-winning Songwriter’s Hall of Fame duo, are known as the team behind some of Frank Sinatra’s most famous hits including “Come Fly with Me,” “Only the Lonely,” and “Come Dance with Me.” Sid and Marty Krofft’s Les Poupees de Paris will be officially released for the first time on CD in the U.S. July 8, with streaming and downloads available the same day.
Originally produced by Joseph Papp for the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road, was a milestone in the integration of rock-and-roll and musical theater.  It opened June 14, 1978 at the Public Theater and later moved to the Circle in the Square for a total of 1,165 performances, making it one of the most successful Off-Broadway musicals of all time. The book and lyrics are by Gretchen Cryer, who also starred as the lead character Heather Jones in the original production, with music by Nancy Ford. The show follows Jones as she puts together her new cabaret act featuring songs about her own empowerment (she’s just been through a bitter divorce), much to the dismay of her director who tries  to convince her to go back to her old act. The show was nominated for Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics, and its cast album received a Grammy nomination. Recordings of Cryer and Ford’s Off-Broadway musicals Now Is the Time for All Good Men (1967) and The Last Sweet Days of Isaac (1970) are also available from Masterworks Broadway. I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road: Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording will be released on August 8, with streaming and downloads available the same day.
In Alice Through The Looking Glass, Elsie Simmons and Moose Charlap set Lewis Carroll’s timeless classic to music for the NBC television special. First aired November 6, 1966, the star-studded production included Ricardo Montalban, Agnes Moorehead, Jack Palance, Jimmy Durante and the Smothers Brothers. The Television Soundtrack of Alice Through The Looking Glass will be officially released for the first time on CD in the U.S. September 9, with streaming and downloads available the same day.
DVDs

“The Man Who Knew Infinity” adds up to an enjoyable event

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Not everyone deserves being called a “genius.” So we introduce you to The Man Who Knew Infinity.  Dev Patel stars as Srinivasa Ramanujan,  a self-taught Indian mathematics genius. In 1913, he traveled to Trinity College, Cambridge, where over the course of five years, he forged a bond with his mentor, the brilliant and eccentric professor, G.H. Hardy (played by Jeremy Irons), while fighting against prejudice to reveal his mathematic genius to the world. As the Chicago Sun-Times raved, the film “is not so much a film about understanding the numbers, but understanding the men who made us see their merit, and the passion that drives each of us to find the true meaning in our lives.”


The Man Who Knew Infinity arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD August 23 from Paramount Home Media Distribution.  The film will also be available for sale or rental from cable, satellite and telco providers through IFC Films.

A great film that adds up to a most entertaining adventure!